This application claims the priority of 198 47 551.9, filed Oct. 15, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a system for punching metal sheets and for stacking metal sheets in the appropriate punched pattern, and more particularly, to a system having a die for punching the metal sheets, a die plate cooperating with the die, a guiding device for guiding the punched metal sheets below the die plate.
A known system of the general type is described in DE 26 05 983 C3. The punched metal sheets are stacked or guided onto a mandrel which is situated in the receiving shaft for the metal sheets below the die and which receives the metal sheets on their interior bore. A relatively large interior bore of the metal sheets is disadvantageously required, however, because, with the otherwise required small diameter, the stacking mandrel will become very unstable. Furthermore, for the retooling to metal sheets of a different inside diameter, the stacking mandrels must be exchanged. This exchange cannot be automated and is, therefore, very time and cost intensive.
Concerning the general state of the art with respect to punching metal sheets and stacking metal sheets in an appropriate punched pattern, reference is also made to DE 31 47 034 A1; DE 28 39 928 A1; EP 0 343 661 A1; DE 26 30 867 C2; DE 20 65 645 A1; DE 27 06 274 A1; DE 23 39 322 A1; and DE 26 19 127 A1.
An object of the present invention is to provide a system for stacking metal sheets in an appropriate punched pattern which ensures a very good guiding of the punched sheets and which, when the production is retooled to another diameter of the metal sheets, can be adapted very rapidly, particularly without requiring any retooling work.
According to the invention, this object has been achieved by providing that the guiding device has at least two clamping elements, and the clamping elements are provided for clamping the punched metal sheets on their circumference.
By way of the clamping elements according to the invention which are applied to the circumference of the metal sheets and are thus capable of clamping-in these metal sheets, an exterior guiding is obtained for the metal sheets which can be adapted in a very simple manner to different diameters of the metal sheets.
In this case, the lowest metal sheet situated in the guiding device between the clamping elements in a simple manner forms the separation between those metal sheets which are intended for the further transport or a further machining and are therefore already situated below the guiding device and those metal sheets which are to be stacked by the guiding device. Thus, a stack branch-off is formed by the clamping elements so that, also during a discharge of the metal sheets, an uninterrupted punching of the metal sheets can take place. Furthermore, a twisting of the metal sheets by the clamping elements according to invention can be prevented.